My (Other) Travel Essentials

 Aside from my OOTDs, toiletries and mobile phone, here are the items I cannot do without when I travel: 

1.I keep the outer pocket of my hand carried bag secured and safe through a nylon cable tie. I got this idea online and since then, I always use it to protect myself from (possible) airport scams. 

2. Immigration forms are normally handed and filled up on board- that's why a pen is a must. During my first travels, I have always forgotten to bring one and I had to inconvenience my co-passenger or the flight attendant when I I had to borrow or ask from them. 

3. I always bring wet wipes in my carry on bag.  It is non-liquid yet it helps to clean up any mess. I also use it to freshen up before the plane touches down.   

4.  Liquids, gels, creams and pastes are allowed in the carry on bag , provided they are 3.4 ounces or less.  Placing them inside a transparent, resealable bag makes it easier to separate them from the carry on, for faster security screening. 

5. To seal food container or prevent spills from shampoo bottles and other bottled liquids, I make sure I have duct tape.  It is also useful to fix or put luggage together, in case it gets broken or torn.  

6. I follow fellow travelers' advise to roll clothes to save on luggage space.  Rubber bands help put my rolled clothes in place. 

7.  Aside from being a fashion accessory, a shawl can be used as a blanket when it gets chilly on the plane.  This is pretty useful specially when travelling on budget airlines- as they do not usually provide blankets. 

8. To be able to charge my mobile phone and other gadgets, I make sure that I have the right power plug adapter.  I use this site  to check the type of electric socket available in the country I am visiting. 

9.  Not all hotels have doors which are double locked so I always take a door stopper with me.  It makes me feel safer. 

10. And, since I collect wine,   bubble wrap helps prevent breakage so that the wine reaches home, in one piece. 

3 Australian Cities in 10 Days , and 1 Missed Flight Along the Way

It was not the most efficient itinerary - in fact, travelling from West Australia to the Southeast (Victoria and New South Wales) made it a bit of an expensive trip.  But the itinerary served its purpose: to be with a dear friend in Perth, to meet up with my good friend in Melbourne (she lives in New Zealand but my travel coincided with her scheduled meeting there),  and to finally see the iconic Opera House in Sydney. All in one go.

Here is my easy breezy, no pressure, no rush itinerary, which gave me enough time to bond with friends and still have a good experience of the good-things-that-are-Australian: 

Day 1- Travel from Manila to Singapore to Perth via Tiger Air/Scoot

           

I traveled with my friend Rowie and we did tried to save a bit so we took the Tiger Air/Scoot flight.  Tiger Air was all good, however, Scoot was hours late and the seats are thin and tightly spaced and is not at all recommended for long haul flights such as Singapore-Perth. We arrived close to midnight, and was picked up at the airport by our friend Regine and her daughter Leona.  It was late-but it didn't stop us from enjoying the welcome treat prepared for us.  And here was the toast to our 18 year old friendship:

Day 2 - Chasing Jacarandas all over Perth and a visit to Fremantle

Before our travel, I have seen beautiful pictures of Jacaranda trees in bloom and have asked my friend if we can see them.  Fortunately, they were still in bloom when we visited in December - though the Jacaranda festival happened just few days before we arrived. We spent hours driving around, looking for the street with the most number of Jacaranda trees. And here I was, in one of the Jacaranda-filled streets:

Jacaranda trees in bloom. 

In between, we dropped by Fremantle, some 30 minutes away from Perth City.  We had lunch at the Little Creatures, and then a quick walk at the Fremantle Fishing  Boat Harbour, right beside the Little Creatures. 

Loved the beer at the Little Creatures!

Then we had a round of the must-sees of Fremantle. We went to the Round House  and had a walk at the Bather's Beach , which is right behind the Round House. We also found some interesting art works and sculptures in the studios in  JShed by the Bather's Beach. 

Of course we wouldn't miss the Fremantle Prison, one  of the main attractions of the place.  It was the prison built for, and by the convicts themselves, who were sent from England to Australia. We made a round at the Fremantle Markets, and had coffee at San Churro before we started with the "Jacaranda: Sunset Series" shoot. 

Day 3-  (What seemed like a ) Non stop walking tour of Perth City and King's Park

Day 3 was a walking tour of Perth City,starting from The Perth Mint, located at the intersection of Goderich and Hill Streets. A short walk along Goderich Street took us to the beautiful St. Mary's Cathedral at the Victoria Square.   We headed towards Murray Street, which is right infront of the Cathedral, where the Old Fire Station is, and to the Perth Town Hall in Hay Street, which is also where the Hay Street Mall is located. 

St. Mary's Cathedral

It was close to lunch time, and our friend drove us to King's Park and Botanic Garden , which is a 15 minute drive from the city center. We had lunch before we explored the place.  At King's Park, one gets a good panoramic view of Perth City. 

View of Perth City

After the stroll at the Botanic Garden, we went back to the city center, parked the car and resumed with our city walking tour.  We first walked to the Government House, then to Elizabeth Quay , had a cup of cappuccino and went on a quick walk on the modern Elizabeth Quay Bridge.  

The Elizabeth Quay Bridge

We headed back to the city center where there was an on going Christmas parade, and had nice, warm dinner at Miss Maud.  On the way home, we stopped to shoot the skyline of Perth City.  

Day 4- Rollin' in Swan Valley

One of my favorite places in Perth is the Swan Valley, which is a mere 30 minute drive from Perth. I enjoyed tasting wine, cheese and olives- a lot! And of course there were also those free chocolates from the chocolate factory! We visited   Sandalford Wines, Providore, The Margaret River Chocolate Factory, Lancaster Wines, Ugly Duckling Wines, Black Swan Wines, Oakover (where we had lunch), Twin Hill Wines, and Huoghton, among others. 

Love those wines! 

We ended Day 4 with barbecue at my friend's backyard.  

Day 5- Caversham Wildlife Park

Day 5 was the day-with-the kids at the Caversham Wildlife Park. It was my first time to feed kangaroos, and see koalas and wombat (what in the world is a wombat?).  

Yes, there is an animal called Wombat :)

After Caversham, we went to the Watertown for some outlet shopping (of course!).

Day 6- Missed the flight? Chill at Cottlestoe Beach 

I woke up with a text message from Elaine, my Kiwi friend. The message says she's on the way to Wellington airport in New Zealand and she will be seeing me in Melbourne in a few hours.  My mind went blank.  Today? I thought we will see each other tomorrow!  I jumped off the bed, literally, as I remembered that our flight to Melbourne was supposed to be last night! I woke Rowie up and she was as confused.:)

Our Tiger Air ticket to Melbourne was non re-bookable, non-refundable, so we had to throw it away.We hurried to make another booking to Melboune, and managed to get a Qantas flight, which will get us in Melbourne by midnight.  It was a waste of money, but what the heck..we have to be in Melbourne.  But yes, it was stupid and we had a good laugh, afterwards (but not while we were booking-and paying for our flight). I messaged my friend Elaine to inform her about what happened and that I will be seeing her the following day. 

So we had another full day in Perth- we went to Cottlestoe beach, before doing some more outlet shopping (what else to do?). 

Ocean blue!

Regine dropped us off at Perth airport for the 3.5 hour flight to Melbourne. We reached Melbourne close to midnight, took the Skybus to the city center and took a short uber ride to the place we rented through Airbnb. The place was right in the middle of the city center, along Collins St- good choice!

Day 7- Together again in Melbourne and quick side trip to Brighton Beach

I woke up early to move to Elaine's hotel in Little Collins, 1 block away from the place we were renting. It was really good seeing her again- after 9 good years! It was one happy day! While we were talking about what's going on in our lives, or what happened the past 9 years, we did some walking tour around Melbourne City.  (We could have taken the free tram, but walking worked too!). We  started with the Federation Square, where the Visitor Center is located. Right across, and beside St. Paul's Cathedral is the  Hosier Lane Street where we found some interesting wall art. 

Two-gether again!

We walked to the Queen Victoria Market, which was closed, but where we found more nice wall art.  We walked some more and our feet took us to Carlton Gardens, where the Royal Exhibition Building and the Melbourne Museum ,where history is exhibited in varied, interesting ways.  After exploring the museum, we went to the Parliament House before heading to Emporium Melbourne for lunch. 

After lunch, Elaine had to run to a meeting while I met with Rowie to do the side trip to Brighton Beach.  It was a picture-perfect beach because of the multi-colored bathing boxes.

Bright colors, right on!

We met with Elaine after Brighton, and took the tram to the Harbour Esplanade for a view of the sunset, took the tram to Nando's for dinner and called it a day.  I stayed at Elaine's hotel and we continued with our catch up.

Day 8- The Great Great Ocean Road Tour

I woke up early and ran to the pick up place for the Great Ocean Road Tour, which Rowie and I booked through Viator. I said goodbye to Elaine, with a tentative plan of visiting her in New Zealand soon.

We were picked up by 7AM, and it was a fun, small group tour with folks from Italy, US, Japan, Sydney and Malaysia. The tour included lunch and morning snacks. We had a number of stop overs in several lovely towns along the Great Ocean Road. But of course the favorite, and the one which took my breath away was the Twelve Apostles.   

Some of the 12 apostles. 

One of the stop overs.

It was a long, fun day and we were back in Melbourne after 9 PM. And then we had to face the challenge of packing our luggage (again).

Day 9- Sydney Opera House, Finally!

And finally, we were Sydney bound! We left Collins Street by 5 AM via Uber for the 1 hour flight to Sydney. From the airport, we took the train to the Sydney Central Station and from there took the North Shore and Northern Line to Thornleigh, where Regine's sister in law lives.  Regine has kindly arranged for free accomodation for us in their granny flat and we were even picked up from the train station!  We bonded with our host family over (free) lunch, freshened up and found our way to the Sydney Opera House . We couldn't say we have been to Australia if we haven't been to the Opera House!

Finally saw you!

We took a lot of pictures of the opera house and the Sydney Harbour Bridge,    and had a stroll at the nearby Royal Botanic Garden. Afterwards, we had a quick walk at the city center before heading back to "our" granny flat.

Day 10- Sydney City

Initially, we planned on going to the Blue Mountains, however, we felt worn out (and broke) and decided on exploring Sydney City , instead. We had breakfast at a quaint Cafe called Two Daughters and then we were ready to explore the free sights of Sydney.  

We headed to the Queen Victoria Building, a shopping center, which has a beautiful architecture and many interesting shops including the Dr. Seuss Gallery.  Right across it is the Sydney Town Hall and further down is the Darling Harbour.  Rowie is meeting her friend at the Darling Harbour so I moved on to explore the other side of QVB.  

Inside the Queen Victoria Building

I chilled at the Hyde Park, and enjoyed watching the Archibald fountain while eating some chocolates.  At the Hyde Park, you get a good view of the rather imposing structure of the St. Mary's Cathedral.  I trailed along Macquarrie Street where the Hyde Park Barracks Museum, Supreme Court of New South Wales, The Mint, Parliament of New South Wales and The State Library of New South Wales are located.  I went inside the library and wished that we also have the same well maintained library and very spacious reading rooms back home. Across the library is the Royal Botanic Gardens , I had a stroll again and further on, I got another view of the Opera House. I walked back to Hyde Park, went inside the cathedral, and walked to Darling Harbour to meet with Rowie and her friends, who we had dinner with.  They dropped us off Thornleigh, and we had to pack our luggage again.  

View of St. Mary's Cathedral from Hyde Park

New South Wales Library

Day 11- Home bound! 

After spending some time with our host over breakfast, they dropped us off at Thornleigh station and we took the train to Central Station, and then to the Airport. Of course, Scoot has to be delayed again for 4 hours but..soon enough, we were home!

And just like any other travels, it always feels better to be back home!

Travel Tips: Nepal

Nepal is one country I cannot get enough of.  It has Mount Everest, very beautiful landscape of mountain ranges, and very friendly people who enjoy meeting visitors and who have a ready smile for everyone. The following are some tips for those who plan to explore Nepal: 

Visa

A visa is required when travelling to Nepal.  It can be organized through the Nepalese Embassies in USA, UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Brussels, Geneva Japan, Thailand and Hongkong. For those without embassies, tourists can apply for tourist visa upon arrival at Kathmandu.  A 15 day single entry tourist visa is usually provided for a USD 25 entry fee. You may check out visa regulations at the Nepal Tourism Board website.

Arrival

All international flights arrive at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal.  It is, surprisingly, a small airport considering the huge number of tourists coming to Nepal. Tribhuvan is the only international airport in Nepal.  

Currency

Currency is Nepalese rupee (NPR). You may get estimate of the exchange rate here before you travel. There are foreign exchange counters at Tribhuvan airport as well as in downtown Kathmandu. 

Major banks and big restaurants, hotels and shopping malls in Kathmandu accept major international credit cards.

Travelling in and around Kathmandu

Metered taxis are available and fare may cost up to approximately USD6 or Euro4.

Timezone

GMT + 5:45

Weather

• Summer is March to mid June and temperature can range from 15 to 32 degree Celcius during summer. 
• Monsoon period is between mid June to mid August.
• Winter is from mid November until mid February.  Temperature can go down to minus 2 degree Celsius during mid winter with lots of fog and frost in the morning.  In Kathmandu, winter season is very cold, but without snow. 

Best time to visit 

The best time to visit is after August, when the monsoon ends.  Post monsoon mountain air is clean and fresh and also Dashain and Tihar festivals fall in September and October. From February to April, climate is dry and pleasant and also rhododendons (Nepal's national flower) are in bloom.

Language 

The language spoken (even in hotels and restaurants) is mainly Nepali.  English is spoken to assist foreigners. 

Things to Remember: 

• Before entering a house or a temple, please remove your shoes

• Non Hindus are not allowed to enter into Hindu temples. Buddhist temples are however open to all.

• Women should avoid dresses which expose bare shoulders and knees when visiting rural areas

• Don't kiss or shake hands, especially with women, unless they initiate.

• To greet people or say good morning, good evening, goodnight and goodbye, say "Namaste" with hands joined together and fingers extended in front of you. A simple smile is also accepted or you may raise your right hand slightly above your head.  

• Do not put your hand or arm on the shoulder of a person,specially of a woman and also do not put your hands on the head of the children, as it may offend them. 

• Do not smoke in public places as it is prohibited by the government..

Have a safe and fun travel to Nepal!

Day 9- Duck Tour! :)

Floram and Clarisse left for Vancouver early in the morning.  It was just me and Mary, who took 2 days off so she can be with me.  To humor ourselves, we did the duck tour!  

I have always wondered what a duck tour would be like.  There was one in Singapore but I never tried it. All I know is that you get to ride a vehicle which travels both on land and water.

It turned out to be a fun ride.  Our "Captain" is a hilarious guy who gave us very interesting information as we went through the major historic streets of San Francisco (which we should reward, btw, by blowing the duck whistles every now and then). It's a great way to get an overview of the city. Our very energetic captain drove us around the Fisherman's Wharf, China Town, Ghirardelli Square, Union Square, and many other places.

And then we splashed down into the bay.  Children (and some adults) had fun driving the "duck" themselves.  We enjoyed the view of the city, the Bay Bridge and the Ballpark.  

Cape Hudson and the Bay Bridge

Lovely seals!

All in all, it was one fun, quacky ride! Then it was time for late lunch at Applebees. 

(Note: As of September 2015, the Ride the Ducks , has stopped its operation in San Francisco).

Day 8- Pakistan Visit: At Margalla Hills. Yay!

13 April 2014. On Sunday, we were back in the office to do the reports and presentation for Monday.  We were slave-driven, and allowed to take our lunch only at 4! Unlike! L

Shazia, however, saved the day.  She came at 3:30 , picked us up, brought us to lunch and took us to some shopping, again, at Jinna market.  13I got 1.5 kilos almonds and half kilo pistachio nuts, a Pakistani shawl and some Pakistani wood decors. Too bad the carpets are heavy! I wanted one.

Shopping time...finally.

After the quick shopping, we went to Margalla Hills.  It is a 20 to 30 minutes drive from Jinna market. On our way to the top, we passed by a memorial for the victims of an airplane that crashed in that site some years back.

At the top is the very nice Monat Restaurant, which gives a good view of the entire Islamabad City.  We got there just in time for the sunset. We had a nice Pakistani dinner (mutton and chicken barbecue, nan bread, salad) and then we called it a day.

At the Monat Restaurant

Top of Margalla Hills

Moon at Margalla

Memories of Margalla Hills

Day 5- Pakistan Visit: Chakwal Mountains

April 10, 2014. Day 5. One of the rules for visiting Chakwal province is to get a military permit a month prior to the visit, which was what our security officer, a former military officer, did. The reason for that is so that they could coordinate the police escort wherever we go in Chakwal. For the same reason, we also needed to give them our itinerary. 

Garbed in our Pakistani costume (we were advised to wear one), we started early for Chakwal, where another of our Program Office is situated. 

Me in Pakistani clothes

After 1.5 hours of travel, we reached the toll gate at Chakwal, and our police escort showed up.  We were in a convoy with the police car, with its blinkers and siren and four policemen with long high powered guns.  Yay!

Our police escorts

We reached the office, had meeting, workshop, document and system review and some snacks.  By now, I have realized that Pakistani cuisine is mostly of chicken. Even the snacks. Everything seems to come with chicken- unless you specify something else.

After lunch, we headed to one of the villages, which was another good 1.5 hours of travel.  And travel up and deeper in the mountains we did.  And those were beautiful stone mountains.

Chakwal mountains

And wheat fields

We were again welcomed with rose petals when we reached the community.  We had our meetings, and visits of families with our police escorts tailing us.

Me and Neeta with the 2 kids

The houses in Chakwal are different than those in Islamabad.  They looked like from the olden times described in the bible. Their houses are compounds, with several separate rooms.  In one part of the compound are their goats and cattle.

One of the houses/compounds

While making my way back to the car, I also saw a girl carrying water jar.

Just like the olden times

Time travel. That’s what it felt like- the remoteness of the place, the dresses, the houses, and that water jar.

By 4 pm, we were so hungry, we rushed back to the "real world".

Happy after the late, late lunch.

Day 4- Pakistan Visit: Saidpur Village

9 April 2014. Day 4 did not quite start right. We were supposed to go to another slum community at 9AM.  Earlier, however, there was a bomb blast in one of the markets close to that community. The Security Officer called up and asked us to wait at the office for another hour, and then he will give us another advice.

We decided to just continue with our system and document review.  After an hour or so, we were given the clearance to go.

On the way to the community...beautiful park turned into clothes drying area :)

We went to another Christian community and had the meetings in another small church. It felt good to be able to talk to some project beneficiaries- it does validate the work that we do. We talked with some youth volunteer health educators  and I was amazed to find out how much they are learning and how their involvement are helping them develop themselves.

Meeting with children and community

 After the meeting, we headed to Saidpur Village for lunch. On the way, I cannot help but notice the lovely roses lining the major streets. Wish we have this too in Manila- but then that might not be possible due to the terrible air pollution.

Aren't they lovely

 Situated at the foot of a hill, Saidpur Village is a heritage place.  It is an old village and the government are taking pains to maintain it and they are not anymore allowed to build more houses there.  The hill, flowers, blue skies and good weather all together made it the lovely place that it is.  

We enjoyed  a good Pakistani lunch and then headed back to the Program Unit office for a quick presentation of our findings and recommendations.